Indian shares edged higher on Thursday, buoyed by gains in metal stocks on strong steel futures and solid quarterly results from Tata Steel, even as the country grappled with the relentless spike in COVID-19 cases.
The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.29% to 14,660.05 by 0401 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.18% to 48,762.86.
India reported more than 400,000 coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, taking the total tally past 21 million, while deaths rose by a record 3,980, health ministry data showed.
Tata Steel jumped nearly 5% after beating quarterly profit estimates, driving rival JSW Steel up more than 3% and pushing the Nifty Metal index up 2.7%.
State-run lender IDBI Bank surged nearly 15% after the government on Wednesday approved a stake sale.
Cipla Ltd gained as much as 3.2% after India gave emergency use approval for a COVID-19 antibody drug cocktail developed by Roche and Regeneron for which Cipla is the local distribution partner.
Benchmark Nifty 50 component Hero MotoCorp is due to report its quarterly results later in the day. (Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru)
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